CHAPTER12

Alexa

* * *

“What?”

I handed Luke a cold beer. We went to the patio to sit while supper was cooking. I put Leif in his playpen, and he was happy to sit and play with some toys laid around him.

“Apparently, the mechanic is trying to clear his conscience because of a terminal cancer diagnosis and told the investigator some info about an old job he’d worked. It sounds like someone paid him serious money to damage the brake line in a company-owned vehicle. That company appears to be my father’s company. It was the week before the crash.”

“Oh, Luke,” I said and leaned over to give him a kiss. “I’m so sorry. That’s horrible news. Who do you think might have wanted your parents killed?”

Beside me, Luke took a long pull at his beer. “Who benefitted the most from their deaths? None other than the Marshalls.”

“Oh, my God…” I glanced out over the ocean, trying to imagine Mr. Marshall arranging to have the company limo sabotaged so that Luke’s parents would die in a crash. “I can’t believe it. It can’t be your stepfather…”

“Doesn’t have to be him,” Luke said. “Could have been her. Of the two of them, she’s the one I’d suspect.”

“Do you really think she’d be capable of plotting to have someone killed?”

Luke shrugged. “Like I said, of the two of them…” He glanced at me. “Remember what she did to you. Not something your average mother-in-law does to a daughter-in-law.”

I sat for a moment in complete shock, imagining the two Marshalls, acting together or one of them on their own, to set up Luke’s parents — Mr. Marshall’s business partner and supposed best friend. But how many cases had I read about over the years or seen on one of those cold case or detective shows about business partners killing the other for the sake of money?

Too many.

“What about the police? Why didn’t this jailhouse snitch tell police? Why was a PI contacting you?”

Luke shook his head and glanced at me. “I have no idea. The snitch has no evidence and so the police aren’t investigating. He contacted a PI to get someone interested.”

I sighed and considered it. If the Marshall’s — one or the other — or both — arranged to damage the brakes in the company car, I would expect the local police to investigate, even if it was twenty years later.

“Why wouldn’t the police investigate at least — check out the story?”

“Maybe they did and found nothing or not enough to do anything about it. It might be one of those he-said she-said kind of thing.”

“But surely there would be some evidence. Did the guy actually work for the auto shop that did the maintenance on the company car? Was he an associate with the bad guy? Did the mechanic get a payoff to his bank account? That kind of thing.”

Luke smiled sadly. “You sound like an amateur sleuth.”

I took a sip of my non-alcoholic beer. “What does the PI think? What did you say his name was?”

“Brian George. I checked out his company. It’s legit and he’s a former detective in the Major Crimes Unit. Used to investigate fraud and missing persons. He thinks there’s something to it and that’s good enough for me. I think I’m going to have to hire him to do more sleuthing.”

“Do you think that’s why he contacted you? To solicit business? Is it wise to use him? Maybe find someone else.”

Luke made a doubtful face. “He knows police work. He knows the system. I’ll see what he charges and see what I can find out.”

I sighed heavily and pondered what it all meant. If someone paid to have the brakes damaged, they must have benefitted from the death of Luke’s parents in some way. If not the Marshalls, who?

“You should look back at the company’s history. See if there were any grudges from former employees or executives. Would anyone have a grudge against your parents — other than the Marshalls, who were supposedly best friends. On the off chance, it was someone other than them, I mean…”

Luke leaned over and gave me a kiss. “You have such an analytical mind… You’d be a good cop. You should consider a career in law enforcement…”

I laughed when I saw his grin and knew he was joking. I shook my head. “No thanks. Speaking of careers, guess who called me today?” When I saw a blank look on Luke’s face, I realized there would be no way he could guess.

“It was an old advisor for my MA. She wants me to join her in Brussels, Belgium as an analyst.”

“What?” Luke sat up and met my eyes. “She offered you a job?”

I bit my bottom lip. “I know this is really inconvenient for you, given the upcoming deal, so I wanted to talk to you about logistics before I got back to her with a definite no.”

Luke glanced away and stared out over the ocean. In the distance, clouds were forming on the horizon, and it looked like a storm was brewing.

Tags: S.E. Lund Mr. Big Romance
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